diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 36980f7335..e2cb976818 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 * (sec) [\#1302](https://github.com/Finschia/finschia-sdk/pull/1302) remove map iteration non-determinism with keys + sorting
 * (client) [\#1303](https://github.com/Finschia/finschia-sdk/pull/1303) fix possible overflow in BuildUnsignedTx 
 * (types) [\#1299](https://github.com/Finschia/finschia-sdk/pull/1299) add missing nil checks
+* (x/staking) [\#1301](https://github.com/Finschia/finschia-sdk/pull/1301) Use bytes instead of string comparison in delete validator queue (backport cosmos/cosmos-sdk#12303)
 
 ### Removed
 
diff --git a/x/staking/keeper/validator.go b/x/staking/keeper/validator.go
index a10de577d8..9c5e5fd003 100644
--- a/x/staking/keeper/validator.go
+++ b/x/staking/keeper/validator.go
@@ -375,9 +375,21 @@ func (k Keeper) DeleteValidatorQueue(ctx sdk.Context, val types.Validator) {
 	addrs := k.GetUnbondingValidators(ctx, val.UnbondingTime, val.UnbondingHeight)
 	newAddrs := []string{}
 
+	// since address string may change due to Bech32 prefix change, we parse the addresses into bytes
+	// format for normalization
+	deletingAddr, err := sdk.ValAddressFromBech32(val.OperatorAddress)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
 	for _, addr := range addrs {
-		if addr != val.OperatorAddress {
-			newAddrs = append(newAddrs, addr)
+		storedAddr, err := sdk.ValAddressFromBech32(addr)
+		if err != nil {
+			// even if we don't panic here, it will panic in UnbondAllMatureValidators at unbond time
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		if !storedAddr.Equals(deletingAddr) {
+			newAddrs = append(newAddrs, storedAddr.String())
 		}
 	}